Anti-smuggling and commercial fraud in the new situation: Need more drastic cooperation

To prevent smuggling, counterfeit goods, counterfeit goods, and commercial fraud, stronger involvement of government agencies is needed; to raise awareness of the self-protection of enterprises’ brands and products and enhance people's participation in identifying and denouncing violations.

This is the common opinion of guests and experts at the Online Seminar on the topic: "Identification" and Solutions: Preventing Smuggling, Counterfeit Goods and Commercial Fraud", organized by Industry and Trade Magazine on the morning of July 28, 2022.

"Hot" on the anti-smuggling and trade fraud

In the first 6 months of 2022, there were more than 30,000 cases of violations checked and handled by the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance; more than 17,300 violations; administrative violations of over 113 billion VND, transfer to the investigating agency for 54 cases. Among them are cases of smuggling, counterfeit goods, banned goods, goods of unknown origin, and goods infringing upon intellectual property rights.

According to the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance - Ministry of Industry and Trade, from the beginning of the year until now, violations related to production and trading activities of goods for epidemic prevention and control have decreased sharply.  However, the group of violations in trading smuggled goods, goods of unknown origin, origin, counterfeit goods, violations of industrial property, and food safety tends to increase in both cases and the value of the confiscated goods. The group of infringing items are mainly inspected and handled by the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance, such as cigarettes, food (sugar), cosmetics, fertilizers, garments, and toys…

Notably, the hot weather also raises demand for sugar, cigarettes, beer, and beverage items. Returning to the normal operation of food service facilities involves infractions connected to the use of raw materials (food) such as fats, organs, and other animal products of unknown origin, which does not provide food safety for intricate food processing.

Mr. Tran Huu Linh, General Director of Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance (MOIT) said: In the first 6 months of this year, the speed and scale of counterfeit goods have increased, and especially the environment for fake goods to be put into circulation. become easy.

“For example, buying, selling, and exchanging on online business models, e-commerce exchanges make it easier for information about counterfeit goods to be ordered and exchanged, counterfeit goods are now even being transported relatively openly due to taking advantage of the delivery of official public couriers, this makes it very difficult for the functional forces to deal with", said Mr. Linh.

Mr. Tran Huu Linh, General Director of Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance (Ministry of Industry and Trade)

Many new, more sophisticated, and complex violations

Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuan, Head of the Department of Management of E-Commerce Activities, Department of Commerce, spoke more clearly about the problem of counterfeit goods, imitation goods, and infringement of intellectual property rights in the e-commerce environment: In the context of the recent Covid-19 epidemic, e-commerce can be described as a lifesaver for businesses trying to survive the pandemic. In recent years, the growth rate of Vietnam's e-commerce has been between 25 and 30 percent. However, when the transaction amount and number of transactions rise, emergence occurs.

The problems of counterfeit goods and commercial fraud in the e-commerce context occur due to the features of e-commerce where buyers and sellers do not meet each other, so violations in e-commerce tend to increase, especially with new behaviors, more sophisticated and more complex tricks," said Mr. Tuan.

According to Mr. Tuan, there are new and sophisticated phenomena such as objects that post information or Livestream sales in one place but warehouses in another; selling goods through intermediaries in many different provinces and cities; objects that negotiate with each other on closed social networking groups and then sell them on e-commerce to take advantage of the delivery shipping service and then delete the transaction traces… is common.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuan, Leader of Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (MOIT)

Dr. Bui Kim Hieu, Dean of Huflit University's Law Faculty, Head of the Civil Law Department - Institute for Legal Research on Business and Consumer Protection, also stated: "With the rapid development of information technology, it is clear that the business of counterfeit goods and counterfeit goods takes place in every area."

A part of consumers "abets" commercial fraud

Explains that although the authorities have made great efforts to prevent and handle counterfeit goods and commercial fraud, the situation remains very painful for a variety of reasons, including the lack of understanding and cooperation on the side of the company infringed on the rights and even "abetment" of a portion of the consumers.

Mr. Nguyen Dang Sinh - Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Anti-Counterfeiting and Trademark Protection (VATAP) said that many businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, do not register with the state management agency in charge of trademarks and product marks when manufacturing products, so when the business's rights are infringed, there is no basis for law enforcement agencies to handle violators.

In addition, according to Mr. Sinh, some businesses are afraid of cooperating with authorities to provide information and handle violations because they are afraid that their product information is faked, and their business will lose its reputation. 

"For example, food products or wine, beer, soft drinks ..., businesses are afraid to make a big deal, consumers will think that fake products are too much, and revenue will be reduced." Mr. Sinh said.

Mr. Nguyen Dang Sinh - Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Anti-Counterfeiting and Trademark Protection (VATAP)

Meanwhile, Mr. Tran Huu Linh emphasized: "Currently, a part of customers with low incomes who wish to use branded items, even world-famous brands, are aware of fake but still buy cheap." As a result, it is clear that there is still an economic phenomenon of buying and selling counterfeit items and imitations of world-famous brands.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuan, who shares this viewpoint, stated that: "Sometimes customers realize they are fake products, but since they enjoy that brand and still want to use it because of its low price, they unintentionally help the counterfeit goods and commodities.". Or, when purchasing online, buyers do not examine past consumer evaluations about that product, as well as the reputation of that firm in the market, and as a result, they may purchase counterfeit or low-quality items.

The long war, no one's own

In truth, the fight against contraband, counterfeit products, and commercial fraud is being waged on a massive, complicated, and sophisticated scale. To avoid or address this issue, it is vital to consider all factors as well as connected concerns.

First of all, for state management, according to Mr. Tran Huu Linh, the leader still must have a strong enough and enough deterrent. In recent years, the State management agencies have focused their efforts on amending and supplementing the legal regulations, and the sanctions for handling violations of counterfeit goods are frameworks; There are very high penalties for individuals and businesses that violate. Particularly for market surveillance, the prevention of fake goods, counterfeit goods, and fraud in the e-commerce environment are two issues that have been especially focused on by the entire market surveillance force, strengthening inspection, control, and handling in the past time.

Mr. Linh said: In order to continue to improve strategic policies, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Industry and Trade and specifically the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance to develop and submit to the Prime Minister 3 very important projects focusing on anti-counterfeiting. The first is a project on building a product tracking system to be able to fight counterfeit goods in a radical way, which is expected to be submitted to the Government this year. The second is a project to combat commercial fraud in the e-commerce environment and the third is a project to improve enforcement capacity for market surveillance forces.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuan said, "Since the 2018-2020 term, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has published and executed a strategy to strengthen the fight against counterfeiting and commercial fraud in the e-commerce environment." The primary owners are the General Department of Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance and the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency, who have uncovered several cases involving the purchase and sale of counterfeit items on the e-commerce platform.

Mr. Tuan, on the other hand, stated that fighting counterfeit goods and commercial fraud would be impossible if just the Ministry of Industry and Trade was not involved and that all relevant agencies would have to be involved. The interaction and intertwining of many diverse sectors and fields is a particular feature of the e-commerce ecosystem. The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Information and Communications are in charge of transaction content and domain name maintenance. The Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance, as well as the police agency, plays a role in law enforcement; for the management of goods at the border gates, there is a role of the customs force and related to the coast guard and border guards... Therefore, there must be synchronous participation of the authorities to solve the problem of counterfeit goods thoroughly.

From a legal perspective, Dr. Bui Kim Hieu commented: The problem is that it is required to strengthen market inspection and control and when detecting violations, they must administer punishments, even the most severe punishment, is criminal for violations to have the nature of education, deterrence, general prevention for other subjects.

“Of course, in the operation process, there must also be coordination of local authorities, economic policy, and market surveillance. These are the subjects that, in the process of performing their functions and duties, show the role of inspection and supervision, so it will be a deterrent, "said Dr. Hieu.

Dr. Bui Kim Hieu, Dean of Huflit University's Law Faculty, Head of the Civil Law Department - Institute for Legal Research on Business and Consumer Protection.

Businesses need to actively protect themselves

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Dang Sinh said: With its functions and duties, the Association Anti-counterfeiting and Brand Protection Vietnam continues to accompany businesses to have anti-counterfeiting and counterfeiting solutions. The first is to educate companies on how to protect themselves by requiring them to register their goods with the state management agency in charge of trademarks and product markings, such as the Department of Intellectual Property.

Once approved by a state management agency, the product can be utilized by law enforcement authorities to resolve infractions and safeguard the legitimate interests of businesses. Furthermore, firms whose rights have been violated or whose goods have been counterfeited should be proactive in their approach, cooperating and coordinating with authorities to immediately and fully prevent and deal with such activities.

Mr. Pham Quoc Loc - Member of the Board of Directors of the Company URC Vietnam - Plant Manager of URC Ha Noi - agreed with the Chairman of Vietnam Association for Anti-Counterfeiting and Trademark Protection that businesses must actively protect themselves in the face of counterfeit goods problem, saying: The problem of counterfeit goods distorts, reduces the reputation of businesses and partners, and infringe on the interests of customers who buy counterfeit goods.

To protect its brand in the market, URC Vietnam always updates and publishes detailed information about the company's products on the official website to help customers easily identify genuine products. Secondly, through communication channels such as a hotline, fan page, and website of the company, the company receives customer feedback about the product, thereby identifying customers who have purchased counterfeit products. The company also promotes communication campaigns to introduce and popularize the packaging design, and name of each product produced by URC company.

For distribution channels, the Company also provides guidance on how to identify counterfeit to ensure the rights of customers as well as distributors. Distribution staff must be closely related to the market to promptly detect counterfeit goods so that the company can report to the authorities when detecting signs of infringement on the Company's packaging to work with government agencies to promptly handle and support businesses, distributors and protect consumers' rights.

“In terms of technology, the Company employs cutting-edge technology in the traceability stage, allowing customers to quickly recognize and distinguish between genuine URC Company items and counterfeit products throughout the shopping selection process. The company also applies modern technologies in the production of packaging and labels so that it is difficult for an object to counterfeit our products even if they want to in a short time...", Mr. Loc said. Good.

Mr. Pham Quoc Loc - Member of the Board of Directors of URC Vietnam - Plant Manager of URC Hanoi 

Raising awareness of stakeholders

Besides continuing to improve the legal policy framework and the efficiency of law enforcement in terms of preventing and dealing with counterfeit goods violations, experts emphasize the importance of focusing on a group of solutions to strengthen propaganda and raise awareness among all stakeholders.

Firstly, it is necessary to continue to improve the capacity of law enforcement officers in e-commerce and professional techniques related to the fight against counterfeiting, and only with responsive competence can they effectively deal with violations.

Secondly, it is necessary to propagate and disseminate to businesses, thereby raising awareness and responsibilities of businesses, not considering the fight against counterfeiting as the task of the authorities, but also must be aware of this is the business 

Third, it is especially necessary to raise consumers' awareness when participating in the purchase of goods as well as the spirit of proactively denouncing crimes and violations.

According to Mr. Tran Huu Linh, changing the behaviors of certain consumers who choose to utilize imitation branded items at low rates is tough and time-consuming. advocating for approximately 100 million customers throughout the country to refuse to compromise by purchasing counterfeit goods is a critical job.

"However, the media must diversify in order for people and consumers to easily access and absorb it, and it must be highly detailed in order to assist people in knowing how to avoid and supply information to only buy genuine items... these are critical challenges in the coming years to combat counterfeiting and counterfeiting more effectively." Mr. Linh emphasized

(Source: tapchicongthuong.vn)